A Noble Cause
by valasmaldoran
Summary: Set directly after Journey's End, the Doctor goes to the one person who can help his friend - Helen Magnus.
1. Prologue

This is my first Sanctuary, my first crossover fic, and will be my first multi-chapter fic, so be gentle with me. This entire story is dedicated to Jocelyn (**queerandnerdy** on tumblr) because she turned me on to this ship (it's Helen Magnus/Donna Noble, for anyone who is wondering), and to Seleana (**frecklybobos** on tumblr). I own nothing, not even the title (Jocelyn came up with it). Well then, allons-y!

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>**  
>The Prologue<strong>

Turkey club on rye bread with a bag of chips he stole from Kate's not-so-secret hiding space at the back of the cabinet. A normal, mundane, lunch for a normal, mundane, day. But that's always how it starts, right? The quiet before the storm, the silence before the bang. He should have known having no abnormal troubles, no paperwork, no feedings or breakouts or shipments was too good to be true. Because as soon as Henry Foss went to take the first bite of his deliciously crafted sandwich, his computer exploded with alarms, bells, whistles; anything to grab his attention.

He didn't even have enough time to roll his eyes. Within seconds he was at the computer, skimming through miles of code that only he could understand.

Except they didn't make any sense.

"Hey, what's going on?" a voice called, elevated but still moderately calm, from behind him. Henry turned slightly to see Will Zimmerman heading towards him. He nodded at the screen, attempting to find the words to put what his system was telling him in a simple manner.

"Uh, we've had a breach, but we haven't had a breach."

Will simply cocked an eyebrow.

"Look," Henry gestured towards the screen, where an obvious change was occurring in the main entrance of the castle they called home. "Something is breaking in without breaking in."

"Is it Druitt?"

"Nah, the EM shield is up. Plus, it never shows up like this on the scanner. This thing is like… glowing or something. Blipping in and out."

Will rubbed the back of his neck before allowing his hand to slap down on Henry's shoulder. So much for a free afternoon. He planned to beat the Big Guy in a few rounds of cards, win back the money he lost last free day, but that didn't seem likely now.

"I'll get the guns, you go tell Magnus."

Before Henry could interject, Will was out the door.

"But… I… damn."

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><p>Helen, as always, took the news as if someone had told her there was a guest knocking at the front door. However, for leverage, she accept the stun gun Will handed to her as she and her gang of abnormal-busters jogged through the halls, making the long journey back to the main hall.<p>

They arrived just in time; they heard whatever it was before the saw it. A gust of wind hit them all; Henry shielded his face from the light that erupted from the middle of the room, his senses in overdrive. Will and Kate stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to make of the sight before them. Helen simply grinned.

With the introductory greeting of a vroosh, vroosh, a blue police box appeared and sat idly in the middle of their home.

_…What?_

"Lower your weapons," Magnus directed finally, her tone unreadable. Will turned his head to face her; her grin had died down to a small smile that assured him they weren't in danger.

"Do you mind telling us what's going on?" he asked, lowing his stun gun to his side. The other two members of the team silently followed.

"In due time," she replied, her eyes flicking over to him mischievously just as the doors to the peculiar box swung open.

Out stepped a tall, gangly, man dressed in a pair of brown pinstripe pants, probably belonging to a suit, and a blue button down shirt. He was soaked, from his floppy hair to his red Chuck Taylor's, and Will could think nothing but 'so that's what a wet rat looks like.'

Helen stepped forward, all traces of her smile vanished as she watched the obviously distraught intruder reveal himself. Well, maybe it wasn't obvious. He was a profiler, things like emotions were easy to pick up on for him. But the man's face, contorted into one of the saddest expressions he'd ever seen, was a dead giveaway. He didn't even know the guy and Will still had to drop his gaze, feeling sorry for the man.

"Doctor?" Helen spoke softly, her voice laced with concern. Typical Magnus, overlooking things like breaking in and giving the team a heart attack just become someone was sporting a jutting lower lip.

"Helen, hi," the man, this Doctor fellow, replied. He didn't bother to introduce himself, he didn't even flick his gaze over the team. His eyes, so dark and cold; filled with pain and sadness, stayed locked on Magnus.

"I… I need your help."

**A/N: So, what did you think? I promise it will get more eventful in the next chapter; this was just setting the story in motion. Reviews are nice ;]**


	2. You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

This chapter features Donna, but beware, there's a bit of subtle angst. The ending scene (save a few changes) is direction from Jocelyn's (**queerandnerdy** on tumblr) photoset that inspired this fic. Once again, I own nothing. Enjoy the second (well, the first) chapter!

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>**  
>Chapter I - You have <em>got<em> to be kidding me**

"Why did I even agree to this?" Henry quipped bitterly, his nimble fingers making quick but awkward work of the buttons on his shirt.

"Because you love me?" Helen replied sweetly, batting her long, mascara-coated, eyelashes at man she called her son. She practically raised him, along with her little Ashley; he saw Henry as her own, despite their lack of blood relations.

"Not that much," he grumbled, but the way he tucked his head down to stare at his shirt as if it were the most interesting thing in the world made her chuckle and pat the HAP on the back.

"Well, then, because I'm the boss and you have no choice in the matter."

Henry fussed once more before looking up at the lot of them, standing in the shadows between two houses, getting ready for their next move.

"Turns your backs!" he ordered, and as soon as he was sure that no one was looking he discarded his shirt and the rest of his clothing. There was no way he was going to ruin another pair of jeans.

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><p>Lately, life had been… different for Donna Noble. Why it was different she wasn't sure; nothing had changed in over three years. She was still a temp, still living with her mother and grandmother in their comfy Chiswick home, still single, still childless… but she was missing something. Something big, important, looming at the edge of her consciousness. It felt like… the internal battle of 'did I leave the stove on?' was replaying itself over and over again in her mind, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was trying to tell her, what it was trying to get her to remember.<p>

Once in a while, out of nowhere and for no reason, she would remember something. But as soon as Donna tried to grab for it, to reel it in, the thought was gone and she was left with nothing but an overwhelming sadness. Wilf, her grandfather, said it was just the stress of work getting to her. Her mother, unnaturally nice to her these past few days, would change the subject and offer to bake her something sweet.

But it wasn't stress; it was the only thing making her stressed! She felt like a shell, walking around without a purpose, simply breathing and beating but not feeling. She couldn't figure out why though, what was making her so… depressed? But she wasn't sad, she wasn't happy either. She wasn't anything.

Wilf and Silvia had, at her request, went out to the cinema together for some bonding time She just wanted to be alone, really; Donna wanted to lounge around in her pajamas, bury herself in a carton of ice-cream and watch some stupid show that required no thought process whatsoever.

And that's exactly what she did - her ginger hair tied up in a lazy bun, her new set of pajamas (she saw them in a shop window; something about their blue color made her buy them instantly and they became her favorite right away) settling comfortably against her body, and the remote held firmly in one hand as she flicked through the channels, the other hand shoveling leftover carrot cake into her mouth.

Half way into an episode of some stupid American show, she heard a loud bang, followed by the shattering of glass. Donna scrambled to her feet, barely getting time to slip her toes into her owl slippers before whipping around.

"Oi! I swear if it's one of you bloody squatters I'll wring your skinny little-!"

The figure that just climbed through her window was _definitely_ not a squatter.

It definitely wasn't human either.

Donna Noble never believed in aliens, or ghosts, or anything of the supernatural or science fiction realm. That stuff was insane; little green men flying around the sky, dropping by on their way back to mars. Please! Vampires? She'd sooner laugh in their sparkling faces before going to grab some garlic or a stake. Werewolves? You mean healthy, large, dogs?

Well… that sure as hell wasn't a dog!

"Nice puppy…" she breathed, still not entirely grasping the magnitude of the situation.

A werewolf had just broken into her house.

A werewolf…

**A BLOODY WEREWOLF!**

The police! They could help her! No, they would think she was a nutter. Calling in, saying she was being burgled by a figure of nightmares and horror stories. Ppft, yeah, they'd come running to her aid. Animal control? Yeah! They certainly would look into it, would come to her aid.

But the… oh God whatever it was… stood by the phone.

The creature barred its teeth at her, and she found herself backing up until she hit the yellow wall of her living room.

So this was it, how Donna Noble was going to die, torn to bits by a werewolf.

Except, just as the animal was about to move in for the kill, the front door slammed open. Donna couldn't tear her eyes away from the creature, she was too shell shocked to even breath! It happened so fast! Just a minute ago she was watching TV, now she was face to face with a snarling, hungry, overgrown dog on two legs!

The sound of a blast broke her from her trance. Her knees nearly gave out, and she had to rest against the wall to keep from crashing. In front of her stood three people, one in particular stood out among them. She had jet black hair and the bluest eyes Donna had ever seen.

Her gun, if that even was a gun, was just cooling down.

That woman saved her life.

Donna Noble, never one to succumb to fear, quickly straightened up. As she spoke her voice was strong and demanding, but her eyes were so wide and wet that she knew they'd contradict her words.

"What the hell was that? And who the hell are you?"

The woman, dressed in dark slacks and a leather jacket, lowered her gun. Donna swallowed hard, momentarily taken aback at how someone so pretty could probably know how to handle a gun so large; she looked like something out of a movie. And she was badass? Not fair.

"I'm Helen Magnus. And that, Donna Noble…" the woman answered, leaving no time for the ginger to ask how she knew who she was. "…was your first abnormal."


	3. Shall We Begin?

Obviously I own Doctor Who and Sanctuary and, instead of making sure DW has a new series this year and renewing Sanctuary for a season 5, I am writing fanfictions. /sarcasm

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>  
><strong>Chapter II - Shall We Begin?<strong>

She still wasn't entirely sure how it all came about, why she was being lead through an ancient looking castle in a place called Old City.

I mean, yeah,, the whole werewolf thing, but what made her agree to follow Helen and her crew back to their headquarters, to a completely different country no less?

She tried to say that it was curiosity; an impossible creatures breaks into your house and nearly eats you alive, only to be stopped by some woman? It leaves the mind wandering, questions just waiting for an answer.

Oh and she tried to ask them all right. An abnormal? What the hell was an abnormal? Why was it in Chiswick, in her home? How did they know it was there? Who did they work for?

All the questions came at once, each louder and angrier than the first. The woman, Helen Magnus, stayed patient and calm. Finally, chest heaving and brow glistening with a thin layer of perspiration, Donna waited for an answer.

"There are questions I am willing to answer, but not here."

Not here? Not here? Donna Noble worked on no one's schedule.

"You'll answer me right now! Don't think I won't come over there and slap the answers out of you just because you have a gun!"

The man behind her chuckled, quickly clearing his throat and turning his head when Helen shot him a glare that could make lava freeze.

"Donna-"

"And how do you know my name?"

Helen stayed silent for moment; she wasn't used to people cutting her off, or raising their voice at her. To be quite honest, it was ticking her off a bit.

"Are you finished?" she asked finally, locking eyes on the ginger woman once more.

"Are you going to answer my damn questions?"

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><p>That had been a day and a half ago though, back in the only place she'd ever really known. But now, in God knows where with people she just met (if you could even call that a proper meeting), she couldn't chalk it all up to curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat, it didn't make her fly off with strangers.<p>

To tell the truth, there was something familiar about it all. Not Helen, or Will, or Kate, or their tech person Henry who they met at the airport, but the entire situation. She had never seen anything like a werewolf before; hell, the most dangerous thing she had ever seen was a tiger than time her father took her to the zoo as a child.

But even reminding herself of that memory, Donna felt as if it wasn't true. Gnawing at the back of her mind was a voice, so soft she could barely make it out, saying that she had seen things even scarier and deadlier than a werewolf. So when Helen offered her a plane ticket, to a "safe place", Donna couldn't say no. Everything she'd known and learned told her to kick them out of her house, to write off everything she had just seen to a bad dream, but she couldn't. That voice wouldn't let her, that voice made her say yes.

"Alright, we are here," Donna broke the silence, stopping in her tracks. "You dragged me half way across the globe for some answers, and I want them now."

Helen stopped walking as well, turning on her heels. Will, Kate, and Henry, knowing that their boss would want to be alone, headed off in all different directions. Donna didn't bother to wonder where they were going.

"I hardly dragged you, you agreed to come with us,"

"Oi, don't start with that! I want to know who you are!"

"Helen Magnus."

Donna grinded her teeth, her lips pursing in frustration. Helen, to the contrary, couldn't fight back the upward curl of the corners of her mouth.

"You know what I mean," Donna grounded out, each word accented and sharp, "what are you? What is this place?"

"This is the Sanctuary, a home and safe place for all different types and species of abnormals," With that, Helen turned, continuing on her journey towards what seemed to be an elevator. Donna followed, her strides long and quick to catch up with the other woman.

"Monsters. This is a bloody monster hotel."

"We don't use the term monsters here," Magnus replied, her tone darker and colder than before. "Monsters imply that these creatures are hideous and malevolent. That is not always the case. They are just… misunderstood, outcasts that are rejected from society because of their differences. Here, they are welcomed with open arms and we help them as best we can."

With the press of a button, the elevator that Helen lead them to opened to them. She stepped inside, and Donna followed suit. It, just like the building itself, seemed ancient and rickety. Donna kept her hands clasped around the railing. She never liked elevators, especially when they looked like the first ones ever made.

"You knew me, though. This wasn't just a coincidence, was it? You knew my name."

Before Helen could reply, the elevator doors slid open, much to her relief. To be quite honest, she didn't yet know how she was going to explain why she needed Donna. She was walking on a thin rope over a shark tank - if Donna so much as remembered the tiny piece of information, her mind would explode with a flash of brilliant gold light. The Doctor believed Helen could help her, could save her, but she couldn't do that if Donna decided to run off. Helen had one chance to wow her, to make her so intrigued that she would have no choice but to stay, but Donna was hardheaded and would want answers; answers Helen couldn't give her.

"Where are we?" Donna asked, having forgot her unanswered question as soon as Helen lead her into a giant circular room, each section of the walls divided by glass. Her heart began to race; something told her that the glass wasn't there just for show, it served a purpose.

Helen's answer was to simply continue walking towards a panel of glass. Donna begrudgingly followed, her annoyance at Helen's lack of cooperation overshadowed by her curiosity.

Donna patiently stared into the chamber she was lead to, and Helen stood beside her. Just when she was about to open her mouth and ask what she was supposed to be looking at, a creature emerged through the murky water. It was… no… it couldn't be. There are no such things! Donna gasped, finding her knees once against growing weak. However, she managed to stay upright, but lost her voice for a moment. Her throat emitted a soft squeak, followed by a slight twinge in her head. She was greeted with a soft voice;_ hello_. It didn't belong to Magnus, her lips didn't move. Nor did the creatures, but they were contorted in what seemed to be a smile.

A mermaid had just said hello to her… telepathically.

"This is Sally, she is just one of the many abnormals we have here."

"She's a…"

"Yes," Magnus replied, reaching her hand out to stroke the glass. In turn, the mermaid mirrored her, and the two shared a warm smile. "She is a mermaid. She's wondering when you are going to greet her back, by the way."

"I, uh," Donna swallowed, her gaze flicking from Helen back to the creature. She forced a weak smile, reaching out to brush the pads of her fingertips against the glass like the other woman had done. Sally did the same. "Sorry, hello. It… It's nice to meet you."

Helen chuckled gracefully, placing her hand at the base of Donna's back to move her along. Sally sent her a goodbye, before disappearing back into the cloudy blueness.

Oh this was too much. Werewolves, mermaids… she couldn't handle it all. But Helen pressed on, showing and explaining to Donna each and every creature she had on display. Lizard people, overgrown fishes with legs to name a few, even someone who looked normal like her. But before Donna could ask why he was locked up, Helen ushered her past it. However, she did catch the label; something like Veltiporm or Vastilorm.

Finally, after they did a complete 360 tour of the room, Helen stopped in her tracks and turned to Donna.

Donna Noble was plain; she did nothing adventurous, never traveled the world; hell, she hadn't even been out of England until now! She had a meaningless job and a normal family, no special talents and nothing but made her stand out in a crowd (except for her hair).

Boring, bland, belittled Donna Noble, that was all she would ever amount to.

But now, standing in the middle of a room full of potentially dangerous creatures that only a select few knew about, she felt… special.

"Why am I here, Helen?" Donna said finally, her voice soft and broken. She hadn't even noticed that her eyes were wet, nor did she knew why her throat was burning from holding back unshed tears. Why was this affecting her so much?

"Donna Noble…" Helen spoke softly, resting her hand on Donna's forearm. She gave it a soft squeeze, her thumb rubbing the surprisingly warm flesh in soothing circles.

"You are here because you know, deep down in your heart, you were always meant to be."

**A/N: The creature Helen makes sure Donna doesn't get a look at is a Vespiform; the giant wasp from The Unicorn and the Wasp. Obviously it was in human form at the time, and it wasn't the priest. Donna brain didn't melt because she didn't get a proper look at the name. Kudos to anyone who caught the reference without reading this first. :)**


	4. The Overdue Confrontation

What do I own, you ask? Nothing. Just so you know, if you like this pairing, you should really check out my tumblr (**doctor-magnus**), Jocelyn's (**queerandnerdy**), and Seleana's (**frecklybobos**). We're basically Donna/Helen dedication blogs at the moment. Anyway, enjoy!

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>  
><strong>Chapter III - The Overdue Confrontation<strong>

Will Zimmerman was never the jealous type. Okay… maybe a little. But everyone is sometimes, right? There are certain instances where it is acceptable to be a little peeved, especially when someone just waltzes into your life with no proper explanation. Any warm blooded mammal would be ticked off, and he was no exception.

She hadn't done anything to bug him, that Donna woman. They chatted on the plane ride over, and she was quite hilarious when she wasn't bossing people around, so it wasn't really her that he had a problem with. It was the situation they were in.

Will hated being in the dark; he wanted to know every little detail of any situation he found himself in. Sometimes it made him a pain in the ass, but he found it was the best way to properly assess the task at hand.

However, when this Doctor guy came barging into their domain with his blue box and sad eyes, Helen pulled him away to her office and returned an hour later with plane tickets.

That was _so_ not cool.

He tried to talk to Magnus the day they got back, as soon as she came back from giving Donna the ol' hook-line-and-sinker but she decided to stay with the other woman. They spent the remainder of the day in Helen's office, and when he was heading to his room around midnight, he found the light to her office still on and heard the faintest bark of laughter from behind it. At first he thought it was Donna, but upon peeping his head through the door, he found his boss doubled over, clutching her stomach with her jaw open wide. Donna sat on the sofa in her office next to Helen, head thrown back in chuckles so powerful they were silent.

Helen spotted him first, and quickly tried to recover.

"Oh, Will, I'm sorry. Did we wake you?"

"Nahh," he replied, pushing open the door a bit so Donna could see him. "I was just heading to bed when I heard you laugh," Will shoved his hands into his pocket, nodding awkwardly as he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet.

"Yes, well, Donna was just telling me," she couldn't continue the sentence, the ever-so-professional Helen Magnus erupted into another fit of laughter. Donna followed suit, slapping her hand on his bosses' heaving back.

"You can tell me in the morning," he muttered, clearing his throat. "Goodnight ladies."

He left before they could start another round of hyena calls.

The following morning, Helen was three minutes late to their staff meeting. A whole three minutes! In Magnus time, that was somewhere around five years. But no one said anything, no one dared to. He wanted to though; one time he was thirty seconds late, after having stubbed his toe, and she reprimanded him in front of his co-workers. He was usually the one to get in trouble for being tardy, but everyone had their days. Not Helen Magnus though, she was a regular Mary Poppins; practically perfect in every way.

Well, her practically was showing.

After the meeting, Will casually gave Biggie the idea to give Donna a grand tour of the Sanctuary, since she had only seen the one room Helen showed her when they first arrived. The Big Guy agreed, seeing as he was the best suited for the job, and headed off in the direction of Donna's quarters.

Well, that was one thing out of the way.

His next stop was Helen's office. When he arrived, Will was surprised to find her already deep into paperwork, scratching away at one of the numerous white sheets sprawled on her desk. It was a bit weird how, despite all the things she had on there, her space was still neat and tidy. His, however, looked like a bomb hit it. Still, it was nothing compared to Kate's desk, and wasn't even in the same category as her room.

"Whatcha doin'?" he greeted after a soft warning rap on her door. She looked up and gave him a small smile before focusing her attention back on the task at hand.

"Just catching up on some paperwork." You wouldn't have to catch up if you hadn't spent all of yesterday laughing your ass off with Donna he thought bitterly, but shook it away as soon as it crossed his mind.

"Listen, Magnus, we need to talk."

"I'm quite aware of that, William. Please, take a seat," with that, she dropped her pen and gestured towards the chair across from her desk. Will sat quietly, his eyes never leaving her.

"So, lets start at the beginning, who was that dude with the box thing?"

Helen smiled and lowered her gaze, emitting a soft, breathless, laugh. Mr. Zimmerman sure did have a way with words.

"That _dude_, was the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor," she answered. "He's a Time Lord, the last in existence. His race was destroyed in the Last Great Time War, along with Gallifrey, his home planet."

Will nodded, understand her words, but then it hit him.

His home planet?

He was a…

_**What?**_

"Wait… wait… what? His home planet? You mean-"

"Yes, Will," she said patiently, with her signature Magnus smirk that made him want to throw a tantrum in frustration, "he's an alien."

Will laughed at loud at that; not as loud as Magnus last night, but close. "Aliens don't exist…. Right?"

"Really Will? Look where you are, what you do everyday. Are aliens really that far fetched?"

Will bowed his head, giving a slight nod. Just a few years ago he believed abnormals didn't exist, despite his knowledge of the one that killed his mother, but she changed that for. But now she was telling him there were other species of different planets, some that looked like humans! He didn't know what to think!

"Okay," he said finally, dragging out the last consonant. "So is Donna…?"

"No, she is human… mostly."

"Mostly?"

Helen sighed, folding her hands atop her desk. She knew the words that were about to come out of her mouth were going to sound ridiculous, but Will had to be used to that by now. There never was an explanation that made sense when working with the impossible.

"The Doctor is a time traveler, and Donna was his companion. Whilst trying to save the world, the universes actually, Donna accidentally came in contact with Time Lord regeneration energy. It ended in a Meta-Crisis; Donna was left with a Time Lord consciousness and a second Doctor was created, half human, half Time Lord."

Will simply blinked at her.

"The duplicate Doctor's body and mind is that of a Time Lord, so it could withstand the Time Lord/human mix, but Donna started off as a human. Her body and mind cannot handle the complexity of that of a Time Lord's, and would have melted his from the inside-out if the Doctor hadn't stopped it. He had to erased her memories and lock away her Time Lord consciousness; if she so much as remembers anything about the Doctor and her time with him, she will die."

Will gave a huff of air, leaning back in his chair. Wow, he had no idea. Poor Donna, too. Having to lose a chunk of her memory like that? Yeesh,

"So, how can we help?"

Helen lowered her gaze, gnawing at her bottom lip. She knew he, a man of morals and rules, was not going to like her solution.

"There's an abnormal, deep in the Amazon Rainforest. It is rumored to have many qualities, one of them being the ability to drain the life force of other living things."

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, Will, I know-"

"Magnus, you can't be serious!"

Helen shot him a stern glance, one that told him to lower his voice or else. "I am fully aware of how dangerous this situation can be. But I believe that, in a controlled environment under watchful care, the Shillim can safely remove the Time Lord consciousness from Donna and restore her memories."

"But what if it sucks out her life force first? You could kill her!"

"That's a risk we have to take, William!"

Will rose from his chair, his hands flying to his head to run through his hair in frustration. "But why? She's fine the way she is! She's not going to die if we leave her alone."

Helen took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. She needed to stay rational; sinking to his level of elevated voices and outbursts would do nothing to help her case.

"Donna Noble is the most important woman in the whole of creation, Will. She single handedly saved the lives of trillions, billions of trillions! She stopped the stars from going out, and she can't remember a minute of it. She walks around each day, pushing on despite the gnawing feeling that she is forgetting something, something huge and important. She forgot herself, how truly wonderful she is, and I'll be damned if I am going to let that woman spend the rest of her life in the shadows of an existence where she thinks she's nothing. She deserves to know how magnificent she really is, to live a life where she can see her worth, even though we could see it all along. If there's a chance in hell that this abnormal can help her, can save her, I am going to try. I won't let the Doctor down, and I won't let her down. Donna deserves to live, to know she is worth saving."

Will dropped his gaze to the floor. Magnus' tone, cold and sharp, let him know that he had no say in the matter. It was written in stone; they were going to try to help her, even if the flip side was accidentally killing her.

"You leave tomorrow with Kate on the red eye, make sure you're packed and ready to go."

"Yes Ma'am."


	5. Never Were You Just Anything

I still own nothing, and I more than likely never will. I hope you like this chapter, I had fun writing it.

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>  
><strong>Chapter IV - Never Were You <em>"Just"<em> Anything**

It had been a week since Donna Noble first stepped foot into the Sanctuary halls, and what an eventful week it had been. After her grand tour, Donna was put to working doing rounds with Biggie, the resident Sasquatch. At first she nearly fainted at the sight of him, and again when she realized he could talk, but a few minutes of light conversation led her to know that they were going to be quite close.

Will and Kate had been sent off on some super secret mission - Helen refused to reveal any details about their destination and what they were to be doing there. Donna didn't like being in the dark, she but knew how to pick her battles. Helen didn't need to tell her anything; she was a guest in her home. Well, was she a guest?

To be quite honest, Donna didn't know where she stood in her situation. Since their night of acquaintance, Helen treated her just as she treated the others in the Sanctuary. They hadn't had much time to talk after that though; Helen was far too busy with her paperwork and helping Biggie keep track of every abnormal in the Sanctuary with four hands instead of two was still quite hard. By the end of the day, Donna was ready to chop her feet off! Though, for some reason, she was much more in shape than she expected. She thought it weird, seeing as just two weeks ago she nearly had a heart attack walking up ten flights of stairs since the elevator was broken to the floor of her temp job.

Before crashing down on her king sized bed that was so soft it made her want to cry, Donna awarded herself with a nice, long, bubble bath. It'd been **years** since she had one, seeing as living with her mother and grandfather she didn't get enough time to actually get a toe into the bathtub before the door was being barreled down, but now she had all the time in the world. The soft lilac aroma did just the trick in bringing her weary body down from an adrenalin high, and before long she felt her eyes grow heavy. Before she could make a fool of herself by falling asleep and drowning in the bathtub, she climbed out and dried herself off.

After a speedy change into a pair of silk pajamas she found in her wardrobe upon her arrival (along with a few other clothing selections), Donna crawled into bed and shut off the light. She expected to be asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

But that wasn't the case.

She tossed and turned for what felt like hours, attempting to grasp on to any slither of slumber that came her way, but she simply could not. She cursed herself for deciding to take a bath; she'd gotten her second wind after allowing herself to drift off for about five minutes, and now she was paying for it.

She decided, after a detailed mental debate, that a midnight snack might do something in helping her fall asleep. When she was younger, her father would give her a glass of milk and a cookie. Sugar always made her tired; it had a reverse effect on her system for some reason. Gently and quietly (if that were even possible with the creaky wood floors of the Sanctuary), Donna crept her way to the kitchen, careful not to disturb anyone on her way down.

Upon entering the kitchen, one which she believed to be empty seeing as no lights were on, she flicked the switch only to be presented with the silhouette of a woman sitting at the island counter. She nearly screamed, but caught herself at the very last minute so that only a soft whimper could escape. The figure, which turned out to be none other than Helen Magnus, simply chuckled and turned her attention back to the toast that lay on her plate.

"Sorry, did I startle you?"

"No, not at all," Donna replied, her voice laced with sarcasm. It made Helen smile.

"Why were you setting in the dark anyway?" Donna wondered, heading to the cupboard. She grabbed a mug, a shade of blue surprisingly similar to that of her favorite pajamas, and headed for the refrigerator to get some milk. She wasn't sure just when blue became her favorite color; not all shades of blue though, just that particular one; something about it just filled her heart with a warmth she couldn't explain. It was like…. seeing a relative for the first time in years. An old friend reuniting with her.

"No reason in particular," she replied, stopping only long enough to take a bite of her toast. After it was swallowed, she continued, "darkness has a way of stimulating the mind, don't you think?"

Donna looked up from pouring her refreshment, shrugging, "I don't like the darkness much anymore. I keep thinking something's gonna come out of the shadows and…" she tried off, unsure of what exactly she thought would happen to her. She just knew that the darkness gave her the chills (it never had before, not until about a week or so ago), and recently she would have to get up from her bed and go to the window and count the stars to make her calm down. Something about them made her feel as ease.

Helen didn't push for an answer, she simply nodded and focused her attention back on her snack. Donna placed the milk back into the refrigerator when she was finished, making sure to grab a few cookies from the jar atop the counter before settling down at the island across from her new friend.

"So," Donna began after a new seconds of surprisingly comfortable silence. Despite the fact that they had only just met each other, something about Helen Magnus made her feel at home, welcome, and special. Maybe it was the way she looked at her when she spoke, as if her words were the most important thing in the whole wide world. Or maybe it was her smile, so bright and genuine, every time she said something clever. Helen seemed to get her, to understand her, and she though she wasn't sure why, Donna found herself missing the first day she arrived at the Sanctuary, the day they spent together, chatting away.

"you're quite dedicated to the job, yeah? Your husband can't like that very much…"

It was a harmless question; Donna wasn't even entirely sure why she asked it, but she did. Instead of getting mad and telling her that was none of her business, Helen simply threw her head back in a laugh. It was a few more moments before she replied.

"No, I suppose he wouldn't, if I had one."

"Get off! Seriously? No boyfriend, children-"

Helen's face fell at that, but only a little. If Donna hadn't been paying close attention to the other woman's lips (_why am I staring at her lips?_) she wouldn't even have noticed the downward curl of the corners of her mouth.

"Oh, I…"

"It's fine, Donna, really," Helen replied, shooting her a soft smile. "I have… had, a daughter. Ashley, her name was. She… well, she died a few years ago."

Donna's heart dropped into her glass of milk. Oh, what an idiot she was! Prying into that poor woman's life, sticking her nose in where it didn't belong and bringing up painful memories. Gosh, she could really be so stupid sometimes!

"I lost my children too, I know how you feel."

…what?

The moment the words left Donna's lips, she nearly gasped.

"I don't… I don't know why I just said that. I'm so sorry, Helen. I didn't mean to… that was…" she stammered. She had just lied about having children, dead children for that matter, to a woman who was obviously and rightfully distraught by the loss of her own.

But why didn't it feel like a lie?

"Donna, relax, it's okay," Helen replied calmly, though there was a certain glint in her eye that Donna hadn't noticed before. It looked like fear.

"No, it's not okay, I don't-"

"Donna," Helen cut her off, but this time her voice was much more commanding. Donna stopped and looked at her, locking her darkened eyes with the bright blue ones of the woman across from her. Without warning, Helen reached out to grab her hand. Despite how strong Helen so obviously was, Donna found that her skin was soft and smooth, not to mention warm. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the strange twang in her heart that she knew she shouldn't be feeling, had no right or reason to feel.

"Donna," she repeated, "just forget about it."

Donna lowered her gaze and nodded slowly as Helen took back her hand, and did the only thing she could think of to lighten the situation: she offered her a cookie.

The brunette woman accepted the treat with a smile, nibbling on it as the two snacked in silence.

"How are you settling in?" Helen asked after her cookie was finished. She had been in the mood for toast and jam when she came down, but found that Donna's cookies were going much better with her tea than the default snack.

"Oh, I love it! I just wish I could be of more help to you. I mean, you're locked up in that office all day. I know I'm pretty much useless, but I am a temp, I can help with paperwork."

Helen's face fell once again, but this time Donna noticed that it was blatant as opposed to slight like before.

"Don't say that."

"Say what?"

"That you're useless."

Donna chuckled, taking a sip of her glass of milk. "I only say it because it's true."

"But it's not true," Helen retorted. "Donna Noble, you are brilliant."

The words had a sense of familiarity for her, but Donna couldn't place where she heard them before. Not her mum, definitely not; to tell the truth, she wasn't sure when the last time her mother told her she was anything special. Her gramps, well, he didn't have to say it, he made a way of just smiling at her that let her know she meant a whole lot to him. She couldn't flight the blush that crept up her cheeks into her hairline, and to tell the truth, she didn't want to.

"I'm really not, I'm just a temp…"

"You were a temp, Donna. _Were. _You belong here now, with us, and I would love for you to stay - that is, if you want to. And never were you _just _anything. You are everything, even if you don't see it yet. You're so important, so special, more than you'll ever know or believe."

Donna let out a breathless laugh, turning her head to the side quick enough so Helen couldn't see how glassy her eyes got. Oh, this woman was delirious. Obviously she had the wrong Donna Noble, because the one sitting across from her had never done anything special or important, ever.

Helen dumped her toast into the bin and placed her dishes in the sink before walking back over to Donna. She kept her face hidden, but Helen already knew the effect the words she spoke - the truth - had on her friend. She pressed her lips to Donna's hair, pleased to find it smelling of lilac, and whispered her goodnights. With that she was off, back to her office, to continue with her paperwork until the wee hours of the morning like always.

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><p>Donna Noble, back in her bed, fell asleep with no trouble, lulled into a dreamless slumber by the warm tingling sensation that was blooming in her heart for a person she knew she could never have.<p>

**A/N: So, what did you think? Okay, just to clear any possible questions up, the children Donna referred to are her children that CAL created, and they technically died, even though they weren't actually real**. **Once again, her brain doesn't explode because Donna gets her off the topic before she can think too much about it. How did I do writing ~the beginning of ones feelings~? I wanted to be subtle but not too subtle. Anyway, leave reviews! I love getting feedback, suggestions, or ways to improve. Thanks.**


	6. This Should Be Easy

I'm not entirely happy with the way this chapter turned out, seeing as I'm sick (so naturally what little talent I posses is hindered by that) and I split this chapter in two or it would be too long (which, in turn, made this half quite uneventful). Anyway, I still own nothing. Enjoy!

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><p>A Noble Cause<br>**Chapter V - This Should Be Easy**

"Donna!"

At first the sleeping ginger didn't bother to move. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her mother screaming at her for no apparent reason, asking her when she was going to move out, get a better and more stable job, find a husband and give her grandkids (preferably in that order, she would add). No, she just wanted a to sleep in a little while longer, even five minutes long. Hell, a second not hearing that shrill voice was a gift!

Except it wasn't her mother's voice, and she wasn't at home. She was in the Sanctuary, and the voice calling her was Helen's.

Snapping to reality, Donna quickly jumped from her bed, fearing the worse. Had an abnormal gotten loose whilst they were sleeping? Were they all in danger? Without even bothering to fix her pajama top that had been pulled down a bit too far and her one pant leg that somehow rolled up to her knee in her slumber, she flung open the door to see Helen dressed in an outfit similar to the one she had seen her wear the first time they meet.

"Donna, I… oh."

Donna cocked an eyebrow at the other woman's change in expression. Finally realizing where her eyes had fallen for the briefest of seconds, Donna glanced down at herself. Nothing was… popping out, to put crudely, but she was just past the line of decent. Quickly she pulled up her top, and found that Helen's eyes were already back on her face, though she noticed her cheeks were a bit redder than before.

That in itself made Donna blush.

"We've got a lead on an abnormal, Henry and I were wondering if you would like to come along."

Donna wasn't entirely sure how to respond. It had only been a week, and she was still trying to get used to the abnormals inside the Sanctuary. At least here, inside their constructed habitats, they were harmless and docile. But out in the world… like that werewolf back in Chiswick… they could be vicious.

That didn't stop her.

However, her lack of reply made Helen a bit nervous. "You can use this as an opportunity to see what it will be like if you choose to stay here, at the Sanctuary, with all of us."

Ah, yes, _that _again. Helen had mentioned it briefly last night, but Donna was too emotional to even bother commenting on that. Now, however, she was a bit more stable.

"So you weren't just selling me a line last night?"

"Pardon?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "You weren't kidding? You really want me to stay here, to work here, to be like you?"

Helen couldn't stop the smile that crept on her face. Something about Donna made her want to grin every moment she was around her. Her spunk, her charisma, how her lips parted when she was amazed or surprised, how they pouted when she was disbelieving. Over the course of a week, Helen Magnus had learned quite a lot about Donna Noble. She watched each and every person under her care like a hawk, but something drew her eye to Donna over and over again, despite her best efforts to look away.

"Of course, Donna. Everything I said last night was the truth. Everything."

Donna smiled and, with a nod, began backing away from the door.

"Give me five minutes. And close the door for me will you? You ain't seeing any more until you buy me dinner first."

Helen smirked at she closed the door on her way down, wondering if she had enough time to make a reservation at Alfredo's before they left.

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><p>"Oh this is brilliant!" Donna exclaimed in an excited whisper, trailing behind Henry as they pressed up against the brick wall of an old, abandoned, self-storage warehouse on the outskirts of Old City. An abnormal, believed to have escaped whilst being traded on the red market, had been spotted there by one of the numerous Sanctuary ears and eyes Helen had scattered around the city.<p>

The abnormal, believed to be a Morshik by the description they were given, was a docile animal when unprovoked. The red list trade of their species was beginning to blossom due to the fact that their fur, which was softer than the finest of minks, could be bought cheap by competitors and sold at a high price. They had tried on numerous occasion to bust shipments, but each time they arrived at the scene, the deed was done and not a trace of them could be found. The last time they had gotten close though; Helen resulted in grazing a man with a bullet but he got away just in the nick of time.

Helen glanced back at Donna, excited to see her eyes alive with amusement. She always did love to see how the newbies, as Henry liked to call them, took to their first mission. Even after all these years, and she did stress the word _all_, she still found excitement in each hunt, each chase.

Helen lead the way, contemplating using her flashlight inside the poorly lit building despite the fact that, outside, the sun was at its peak. To her knowledge, the warehouse hadn't been used since Ashley was still in diapers, and they never bothered to tear it down and replace it since New City was just beginning to boom. She found, whilst it was still populated and thriving, Old City stores and citizens were slowly but surely moving on to bigger and better things across the water.

Henry started to set up camp as soon as Helen signaled to him that that particular section of the building was clear. Within minutes he had his computer system up and running, scanning the proximity for movement and thermal signatures.

She kept a sharp eye on Donna as she leaned over her friend, waiting patiently with him for results on the scan. Morshik's were relatively easy to capture, a stun or two depending on the size should bring one down without a problem. She was glad Donna's first… well, second, takedown was going to be relatively simple and easy. The last thing she wanted was something to go horribly wrong and spook her out on the first go.

No, Helen wanted Donna to stay for quite a while, and it broke her heart seeing that as soon as Will and Kate returned, she would be free to leave with the Doctor again.

"This is all very Sherlock Holmes meets the Ghostbusters if you ask me," Donna commented, peering around the storage unit they used to cover themselves. The coast was clear; no sign of anything big, hairy, or dangerous.

"Oh?" Helen asked, her voice dripping with amusement.

"Yeah, definitely. I feel like I should be wielding a magnifying glass or something, tracking down footprints!" she laughed at that, as did Henry, but for two different reasons.

Before Helen could reply, or reveal the fact that she knew the man Sherlock was based on, Henry's scan finished with a tell-tale ding. However, the HAP seemed too interested in dreaming about a Sherlock-meets-the-abnormal-side-of-the-world scenario to notice.

"Henry!" Helen interjected, gesturing towards the screen. Apparently the scan had finished.

"Oh, yeah, sorry boss. Uh… the readings show some movements in the far east corridor. From its location, it looks like it is in one of the units."

Helen nodded, accepting a stunner from Henry as he unloaded all of their weapons. To Donna's surprise, Helen handed her one as well. It was nothing like the one she had seen Helen take down the werewolf with; it looked like an actual gun, but Donna was still overwhelmed nonetheless.

"Now, do you know how to handle one of these?"

"What, a gun?" Donna asked, before giving a curt nod. "Yeah, my dad's dad always had a fondness for 'em. He taught me a thing or two."

"Very well then!" Helen replied, turning on her heels. She took her rightful place at the front of the pack, Henry and Donna slightly behind but at her side.

"The game, Ms. Noble, is on."


	7. The Key Word Being Should

I am so very sorry for the delay of this chapter! I just got back to school after a week of being away and I forgot how tiring it can be! Hopefully I will try to update this storyline at least twice a week, but I promise I will keep it updated. Feel free to slap me around a bit for keeping you waiting.

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><p><em>A Noble Cause<em>  
><strong>Chapter VI - The Key Word Being "Should"<strong>

Their footsteps, despite the heavy material of their boots, were surprisingly light as Helen, Henry, and an excited yet nervous Donna Noble trekked through the abandoned warehouse located on the outskirts of Old City. The abnormal they were given a tip on, called a Morshik, as told by Henry's laptop scan (transferred now to a portable handheld tracker), wasn't too far from their location.

"How big is this thing, anyway?" Donna asked finally, her voice scarcely above a whisper. She wasn't sure if they were supposed to whisper, for all she knew the abnormal they were after could be deaf! Helen didn't bother turning her head to address her query with an answer,

"If we are dealing with an adult male, it should be around shoulder height if standing erect. That is why we went with the smaller guns."

"Oh, good. I was gonna say, aren't you supposed to bring out the big guns first, impress a gal, make her beg for more?" Her words were innocent, but Helen turned her head just in time to see the ghost of a smirk dance against the ginger woman's lips and suddenly they took on a whole new meaning. She pursed her lips to fight back a mirroring curve that threatened to reveal itself.

Henry cleared his throat, noting the slightly slowed pace Helen took as she pondered Donna's words, eyes never leaving the shorter woman. That snapped her back to reality; as much as she would like to sit there and banter back and forth with Miss Noble, there was a job to be done.

"The scan says it should be around here somewhere, inside one of the storage units."

"But there are like, a million of 'em in this section alone!"

It was an exaggeration of course, but she had a point. Helen took a moment to take in her surroundings. According to Henry's scan (something he had been trying desperately to make more accurate but couldn't seem to improve the accuracy of the damn device) the abnormal could be in any one of the storage sheds, an entire wall dedicated to them, and a mirroring wall as well. Not to mention down that hall, and the branching corridors, would lay more of them to check.

"Then we best get started," Helen retorted smoothly, cocking her head to her right. "Donna, you go that way. Henry, check these here. I'll take the ones on the other side."

"Got it," Henry replied, giving the scanner one last check before shoving it in his bag, getting to work on opening the first storage unit.

Donna, however, didn't make a move.

"Is something the matter?"

Donna opened the mouth to speak, but decided against it. She turned on her heels, heading off in the direction of the forked path up ahead that would, without a doubt, present to her another endless line of heavy metal doors to push up, only to slam back down and move onto the next one when she didn't find anything.

Donna Noble never thought of herself as particularly brave, then again, she never really had a reason to be. Some could say the fact that she stood up for herself and refused to let people put her down without getting an earful first was brave, but most would agree that was just her being hardheaded and loud. I mean, she'd kill the spiders that occasionally popped up in her house when her mother was too busy screaming for someone to help her (pft, she acted like she'd seen some huge spider lady or something when, in all actuality, they were usually as small as a beetle!), but that is not exactly brave.

Not brave like, you know, hunting down an impossible creature that could tear the flesh off of her if provoked.

No, that was a whole new level of brave for Donna Noble. But was is really courage? Or was she just mad? Properly bonkers, playing hide-and-go-scare-the-actual-hell-out-of-me-if-you-pop-out-of-nowhere with some hairy beast that she had no knowledge of! For a moment she pondered her choices that led up to that very moment, but stopped in order to throw open a new storage door.

Empty, save a few boxes.

She couldn't check herself into the nuthouse just yet though, despite the situation she found herself in. She had seen too much, had light shed on subjects too real to be counted fake, to be crazy. That… werewolf… broke into her home and nearly killed her. That alone opened her up to a world she never knew existed, a world that only crackpots and deranged drunk men rambled on about.

So why did it seem so familiar?

Not the creatures, per say, not even the hunt. Just… she was so willing to accept everything she saw, everything that was thrown at her, because something gnawed at her back of her head telling her to, telling her than she knew of a life similar to this once.

She had dreams sometimes, dreams of adventures with insane creatures, impossible sights, and this weird man. When she awoke she knew she had a dream, but could not recall any information or any images. But the essences of it stayed in the back of her mind for the rest of the day, filling her with a sense of overwhelming sadness. Why did she awake so elated, only to feel empty for the rest of the day?

She had spoken to her mother about the dreams, about the fact that sometimes it was so bad she didn't want to get out of bed in the morning, but Sylvia just said that she was under stressed and shoved sweets and cakes in her face. She suggested going to a therapist, to see if maybe she was having trouble with repressed memories, but her mother refused to let her go, claiming that, "no daughter of mine is going to see a shrink!" Her gramps, usually willing to listen and to help, was surprisingly distant and would pat her on the back and tell her that she was just dwelling on things.

Dwelling on what? There was nothing to dwell on! Nothing had changed in her life to make her subject to these bouts of depression and emptiness. It was like she just woke up one morning and her life suddenly seemed useless. She felt so out of place, so numb, and the only spark of light in the cold embers of her soul seemed to be Helen Magnus and her Sanctuary.

Donna slammed open another door, then another, then another, barely even checking to see if the unit was occupied. She was so lost in thought, so desperately trying to figure out what changed in her life to make her feel so meaningless, that she wouldn't have known that she had found the Morshik if it hadn't knocked her to the ground, and was hovering over her.

All at once the wind left her lungs and she found herself gasping for air underneath the heavy, hairy, creature. Its face seemed like a mix between a fly and a crocodile, if such a thing was possible, and its breath was retched. Its breath…. _**its breath!**_ It was on her, hair covered snout opening to reveal a line of razor sharp teeth that would puncture through her neck without a problem if she didn't get it off her.

She called for Helen, it was the first thing that came to her mind, and curled her legs up to kick the abnormal off her. It flew away with a yelp, and she took that window of opportunity to scramble to her feet. She looked to her hand, expecting to find a gun, only to see that it was empty. It must have flew out somewhere between her opening the door and the Morshik attacking.

The abnormal growled at her, and she barely had time to register that it was _much_ larger than Magnus had initially believed it to be before a clawed hand came down across her face. The sound of her flesh slicing filled her ears, followed by an unbearable sting and the unmistakable feel of her blood pouring from the wound. She flew back, due entirely to the force of the blow, and slammed her head against the door of the storage unit. It left her feeling nauseous and seeing stars as she slowly sunk to the floor, losing all feeling except for the burn of her wound.

So this was how it really was going to end. The abnormal was coming closer, obviously excited by the sight of her blood, and she had no means to protect herself. It took all her might just to kick the damn thing off her! It was at least a torso length taller than her, with fur covered muscles that could send Mr. Universe crying home to his mummy.

"Magnus," she whispered, like a prayer, hoping she would come to her aid before it was too late. She mumbled the woman's name over and over again, growing increasingly louder and more frantic as the abnormal gained on her.

The sound of a gunshot broke the chain of her chants. She turned her head just in time to see Helen, her savior, pointing a gun at the abnormal. Another round came when it didn't falter, and finally the beast gave a howl of pain and, before she could fire again, it was gone. Donna didn't get to see the look of puzzlement of her face, already her vision was beginning to darken. All she could register was the sticky blood pooling at the base of her neck, and Helen's voice protruding her senses, telling her to stay with her.

But she couldn't.

It was too late.


End file.
